Drying machine



Sept. 29, 1942. R.-C. PARKES DRYING MACHINE Filed Jan. 15, 1941 R Y w m man 9 a A m D S G. A, R Y ,B

Sept; 9, 1942.

R. C. PARKES DRYING MACHINE Filed Jan. 15, 1941 3 SheetsLs 3 INVENTOR A H C. PARKES a 9% ATTORNEY Paten ted Sept. 29, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRYING MACHINE Ralph C. Parkes, Glenside, Pa.

Application January 15, 1941, Serial No. 874,448

3 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and useful drying machine and it relates more particularly to a drying machine which is especially adapted for drying cops, bobbins and the like, provision being made for drying such objects in multiple batteries and also for rapid and simultaneous discharge of the objects, after they are dried, from the machine in large quantities.

Other features of construction and advantage of my novel drying machine will be more clearly understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 represents a diagrammatic top plan view showing the general lay out of the machine with certain parts broken away to show internal details and other parts omitted.

Fig. 2 is likewise a diagrammatic view in front elevation of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1 certain parts being broken away to shoW internal construction and other parts. being entirely omitted.

Fig. 3 represents a view partly in section and partly in elevation taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 represents, partly in section and partly in elevation, and on an enlarged scale, certain details of construction.

Fig. 5 represents, in front elevation, a fragmentary view illustrating the operation of the parts shown in Fig. 4. a

Fig. 6 represents a perspective view of one of the drying units forming part of my drying machine, certain parts being broken away to show details of construction.

exhausting the moist air are provided but the same are not shown in the drawings, which are only fragmentary and diagrammatic, and because they constitute obvious expedients well known to Fig. '7 represents a diagrammatic and fragmentary view partly in section and partly in elevation showing a modified form of the construction as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference, characters indicate like parts, and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, my novel drying machine comprises, generally speaking, a relatively big enclosure made of sheet metal or the like and having a suitable reinforced supporting frame, said enclosure being preferably divided into right and left hand sections 8 and I0 and an intermediate section l2. In the intermediate section l2 are mounted the blowers [4 which are provided with reversely disposed blades l6|8 so that they can blow air upwardly through the heaters 28 or downwardly through the heaters 20 as desired. The structure and operation of the reversible fan construction is described fully in prior Patent No. 2,131,691. Conventional suitably controlled inlets for drawing in fresh air those skilled in the art. While in Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown only one unit of blower assemblies |6l8, it will be understood that in actual practice a plurality of blower units will be used extending transversely through the center compartment [2, the showing of all the blowers having been deliberately omitted in the interests of clarity of illustration. For the purposes of this specification and the claims hereto attached the disclosure must be considered as showing a plurality of blower units extending transversely of the chamber and in line with and below the heating elements 28. The heating elements 20 may be of any desired type and need not be shown or described in detail. The central compartment I2 is provided with the lower and upper 'baflles 22 and 24 which curve away in opposite directions so as to direct the air blown in either direction through the heaters 20 to the respective end chambers 8 and ID as shown by the arrows in Fig. 2. The end chambers 8 and ID are provided with the sloping roofs 28 which serve to deflect and difiuse the air blown into the chambers 8 and It! in a uniform manner over the entire area of the chambers 8 and I0. Below the sloping roofs 26 are provided the movable slats or bafiies 28 which are controlled by levers and which can be adjusted to control the passage of the air into the chambers 8 and l0. Except for forming part of the present combination, the details of construction and operation of the slats 28 form no part of the invention and are therefore not described in further detail, as any conventional form of such slat or bafile may be used.

The drying machine thus far described is provided with a back wall 30 extending the height and length of the machine, end or side walls for enclosing the ends (not shown), a front wall or door for enclosing the central chamber l2 and which may be opened to aiford access to the blowers and the heaters contained therein and the fronts of the chambers 8 and I0 are left open except for the upper and lower frames 32 and 34 which extend along the entire front of the machine. The bottom may be enclosed if desired or the machine may be mounted on the floor so that the floor serves as the bottom of the machine. The top of the machine is completely enclosed by a cover or roof 36.

In the compartments 8 and ll] of a drying andconventional suitably controlled outlets for machin emb ying the Structure generally scribed, I position a plurality of withdrawable drawers each of which is adapted to support a plurality of cops, bobbins, or the like which are to be dried, said drawers being adapted to be loaded in their withdrawn position and to have their load discharged also in withdrawn position, and to be inserted into the machine to subject the load or charge of cops, bobbins or the like to the drying operation. Since Figs. 1 and 2 are more or less diagrammatic, and since the drawers referred to are identical, I have shown in Figs. 3 and 6 details of one of said drawers and in Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown the.

mechanism for discharging the load after the material has been dried. Referring now to Figs- 3 and 6 it will be seen that each of the drawers referred to comprises the rear wall 38 which, when the drawer is in position, ,is adapted to abut against the rear wall 36 of the machine, the front wall 40 provided with a handle-42', and a central guidewall or partition 44. The front and rear -walls.-38..and 40 of each-of the-drawers are intercomiected near .their .lower ends by the spaced, parallel angle irons or .-other framework 45 and are'similarly connected :at their upper ends by correspondingangle .irons or framework 48.: The bottom :angle .iIOIlS 46,are adapted .to slide against. the: guides 58 .which are carried .by spaced,-parallel-angle irons 52Lwlnch are .secured to: the rear wall 36 -and-.-the front,

lower-frame. .34.. The angleirons- 48. .are. provided with the plates..54 which carry the-brackets .56 -which,.support the. rollers. 58 which are adapted. to -travel-on the. track ,60, the .track. .60 being suitably .carriedlbyithe .cross :bars .62.which in turn are suitably .secured to the. roof or .upper framework of. the-machine. The track-.60, .as will be. best. seen. from Fig. 6,. .is .preferably. of an inverted. T-shape and it. is adapted to. project through acorresponding slot 88in the.front..wall 48 of ,eachofthe. drawers.- .By the construction thus far. described. the .entiredrawer, grasped by the handle 42,,fcan .bepulled outwardly from the machine, one of saiddrawers being shown partlywithdrawn at 16.8 in Fig. 1. To thefront wall 48 is preferably suitablysecureda -pair.of brackets 18 .which also carry .rollers 58 which engage the projecting portion. of .the ,track'fill .as shown in Fig. 6.

Referring to.Figs..3 andfi it will be seen that each drawer is provided with'aplurality of vertically spaced .rods 12.'which pass through apertures in the .central guide partition 44..- Depending on the width of 'thedrawer, two or more rods are positioned in. horizontal .rows as shown in Fig. .1. The rods 12 may be made integral but are'preferably made. .in two sections interconnected by any suitable connectionsuch as that shown.at .16 in Fig, 4 and are urged towards the front andrear walls .of the drawer respectively by the springs 18.. Each of .the rods 12 carries aplurality, of vertically standing pins v80 which are adapted .tosupport the cops, bobbins or the like-82*tobe dried as .partly shown in Figs. 3-94.v

With reference to the pins .80, which are shown as. supporting the hollow cops or bobbins .82, I wish to point out .that the pins .80 can, be replaced. with hooksfrom. which .skeins. .of yarn can be suspended, .or they can, be .replaced with individual. platforms. or a continuous .platform on which. the goodsto .be -.dried can. be placed, the essence of my invention .being.that means are provided for supporting .a plurality of objects in such. a manner that, when the supporting :the blowers.

dried will fall off simultaneously from each of the rods 12. This obviates the necessity of handling the objects themselves while they are hot and also saves'considerable time.

Also, it is to be noted that by placing the heating unit 29 and the reversible blower units 14 and I8 in the central compartment l2, which communicates at its top and at its bottom with the end compartments 8 and I8 as shown by the arrows in Fig. 2, I double the capacity of the drying machine without proportionately increasing the capacity of the heating unit or Thus, if the heating unit and the blowers were placed at one end of a single compartmentequaling in length the combined length of the chambers 8 and Hi, the drying medium would be more than is necessary immediately adjacent the heating unit and the blowers but wouldbe less than is enough at the far end of suchan elongated drying chamber. By'my arrangementand with the provision of the deflecting, curved upper and, lower members 24 of the .centralcompartment .12, .as. well as the sloping roofs .26.-ofthe compartments 8 and I0, I effect adequate diffusion of the hot airso as to get substantial, uniform drying throughout the compartments 8 and in. y Referringto-Fig. vl, andassuming the same to represent an-enlargementof the leftjhandportion of Fig. 3, it will be seen that I have provided on the inner face of the ,frontwallAfl of thedrawer a hubor cup-shaped member 84 which .is suitably secured in position and which is providedlwith the aperture 86. The hub..88 .is. provided. with the prongs or other projections .92. Inthenormal position the spring 18,, urging the rod '12 in .the direction. of the arrow in Fig.4, causes the vpin. to engage the aperture 86 with the. disc or hubjB in contact with the inner wall of the cup-shaped member 84, In this position the rod l.2is. held rigidly against turning and the cops or .the like 82? to 'be dried. are held .in the. position shown in Fig. 4. After the drying operation is, completed, the drawer is withdrawn from thedrying chamber and a wrench, such asthat. shown in Fig. 5 at 94, is engaged with the prongs or. projections 92 of the hub 88. Pressure is then applied-to. disengage .the pin 90 from the. aperture .86 against the tension of the spring 18 and, since .the.rod,12 is now free to turn, pressure. is, applied in the proper direction on the wrench .94. torotate the rod .12 about its axis so that .the..pins .80..now point substantially downwardly, whereupon the bobbin or the. like 82.being ,drieddrops off. by gravity as illustrated .in Fig. ,5. By inspection of Figs. 3 and 6 it .will be seen that the. structure disclosed in Fig. 4 andillustratedin operation in Fig. 5 is applied alsov to the. back.wall.38--of the drawer so that the corresponding. sections of the rods12, thatis, between the back wall 32 and the partition 44, are operated in..the same-manner asthat described in detail for thesections of the rods 12 between the partition 44- and thefront wall 40 of the drawer. 96 designates-a series of bafile plates which may be of angleor other shapes and which are secured to vverticalrpartitions 98 disposed between each successive pairof drawers, the purpose of the bafile plates -96-being to obstruct the passage ofair upwardlyor downwardly through the various drawers thus causing the air to eddyand whirl around to retard the -passage of air and increase its contact with the-goods .to be dried. The reverse blower blades l6--l8 enable me to direct air upwardly through the heaters 20 and downwardly through the various drawers in the compartments 8 or III or, by reversing the direction of rotation of the fan, the heat is drawn downwardly through the heaters I and upwardly through the drawers in the compartments 8 and I0. In this way a more thorough drawing of the cops on the pins 80 is effected.

In Fig. '7 I have shown a slightly modified form in which I propose to introduce steam or other heating or drying medium through pipes I00 which take the place of the rods I2, and through the hollow pins I02, which take the place of the solid pins 80 and which support the cops or bobbins 82. The hollow pins I02 are closed or capped as at I04. The hollow pipes I00 pass through the back walls 38 of the drawers and the back wall 30 of the machine and are adapted to slide over the tapered nipple I06 which is connected to the T I08 which in turn forms part 0f or is suitably connected to the upright manifold I I 0 which is provided at its lower extremity with the valve II 2. Steam, hot air or other drying medium is delivered into the upright manifold I I2 from a source not shown, it being understood that the manifold II2 extends upwardly the entire height of the machine and has as many T outlets I08 as there are pipes I00. To the back wall 38 of the drawer is secured a cup-shaped member I I 4. I I 6 designates a collar rigidly secured to the pipe I00 so as to be movable therewith, A spring I I8 is confined between the collar H6 and the front wall I20 of the member I I4. This results in the spring constantly urging the pipe I00 in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 7 so that the rear end of the pipe I00 is constantly engaging the nipple I06. Also keyed or otherwise suitably secured to the pipe I00 is the hub I22 which is provided with one or more pins I24 adapted to engage corresponding openings in the front wall I20 of the member II 4. When the pins I24 are in the position shown in Fig. 7, it is obvious that the pipe I00 is retained against rotary movement. In order to be able to rotate the pipe I00 and thus drop off its entire load of cops 82, I have provided the hub I22 with the prongs, lugs or flange I26, which are adapted to be engaged by the wrench 04 of Fig. 5, thus moving the pipe I00 to the right as viewed in Fig. '7, against the tension of the spring I22. This releases the pins I24 from their corresponding openings and the pipe I00 can now be turned about its axis as illustrated in Fig. 5. 'On the front wall 40 of the drawer there is mounted a sleeve or bearing I28 the length of which is slightly in excess of the range of movement of the pipe I00 so that, when the pipe I00 is in its extreme left hand position,

machine empty, the drawers are pulled out, either successively by one operator or simultaneously by several operators, and, with the pins 80 in their vertical position, the objects to be dried, such as the bobbins 82, are mounted on the pins. The drawers are then pushed back into the machine and into the position best illustrated in Figs. 3 and 6.- The fans are operated to deflect the air upwardly so that the air is delivered downwardly through the work in the chambers 8 and I0, or the movement is reversed and the air is fed downwardly so that it is delivered upwardly through the chambers 8 and I0 or both. After the drying operation has been completed, the drawers are pulled out by the handles 42 until the rear wall 38 of each drawer is in line with or just. about clears the front frame 3234 of the machine, whereupon the wrench 94 is applied to the lugs or pins 92 to move the rods I2 against the tension of the spring I8 thus releasing the rods I2 for free rotation about their axes. The wrench is then moved arcuately until the rods I2 are turned to the position shown in Fig. 5, whereupon the bobbins 82 drop off their supporting fins. The rods 12 are then returned to their original position, as shown in Fig. 3 for instance, with the pins 80 pointing upwardly and a fresh charge of cops or bobbins 82 is loaded onto the pins 80 and the drying operation is repeated.

The operation of the form of construction shown in Fig. 7 is as follows:

A drawer having the pipes I00 and hollow pins I02 is withdrawn from the machine in the same manner as above described and the same is loaded with cops, bobbins or the like 82. When this is done the rear end of the pipe I00 is entirely disengaged from the nipple I06 and, of course, while this is done the valve H2 is closed to prevent steam or other heating or drying medium from entering the manifold IIO. When the drawer has been loaded it is pushed back into the machine whereupon the ends of each of the pipes I 00 slips over the juxtaposed end of the nipple I 06 (into the position shown in Fig. '7) and the valve H2 is then opened to permit the drying medium to pass through the manifold I In, the nipple I06, the pipe I00 and the hollow pins I02. In order to insure the automatic and complete engagement of all of the ends of the pipe I00 with their respective nipples I06, it will be as in Fig. '7, the front end of the pipe I00 still rests within the bearing I28 and so that, when the pipe I00 is moved to the right of Fig. '7, to

release the pins I24 and thus turn the pipe I00,'

the front end of the pipe I00 simply moves inwardly or slides to the right within the bearing I28. The pipes I00, like the rods I2, are preferably supported about the middle thereof by the partition 44.

The operation is as follows:

First referring to that part of the invention bins or the like to be dried. Beginning with the seen that I have made the nipples I06 of sufficient length and sufiicient taper to facilitate their entry into the juxtaposed ends of the respective pipes I00 regardless of any slight irregularities that may exist in the floor or the framework or that may result from the movement of the relatively large drawers back and forth. If desired, the nipple I06 can be made flexible, such as of hard rubber or the like, so that it may bend if necessary, or it may be provided with a universal joint connection (not shown). After the drying operation has been completed, the valve H2 is closed, the drawer is pulled out of the machine until all the cops or bobbins are outside the front wall of the machine and then the wrench 94 engages the pins or lugs I26 on the hub I22 to push the latter to the right of Fig. 7 against the tension of the spring II8, thus disengaging the pins I24 from the openings in the front wall I 20 of the cup-shaped member II4. This permits the pipes I00 to be rotated about their axes so that the cops or bobbins mounted on the hollow pins I02 are dropped off into a basket or onto the floor if desired. The pipes are then returned into the positionshown in-Fig.

7 and'then a fresh charge of objects-to be dried is mounted, the drawers are pushed-'back' into the machine and a new cycle of operation begins.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as-new-and'desire to secure by- Letters Patent is:

1. A drying'machine of the character stated comprising a chamber, means for-admitting a drying medium into said chamber, a drawer-slidable into and out of said chamber,- means carried by said drawer for supporting 'the'objects "to be dried comprising a rotatably'mounted horizontally disposed rod carried by'said drawer, a plurality of vertically disposed pins carried 'bysaid rod, means'for'rotatingsaidrod; and means for locking said rod' againstrotation.

2. A drying machine ofthe character stated comprising a chamber, means for admitting a drying medium into said chamber, a drawer slidable into and out ofsaid chamber, a hollow'horizontally disposedrod carried by said'drawer, =vertically disposed hollow pins-carriedbyand-communicating with-theinterior of said rod and adapted to supporttheobject to be dried, and

'-meansfor'introducing aheating medium into said rod andsaid'pins.

3. A drying'machin'e of the character stated comprising a central chamber, a heating element therein, a blowing element cooperating with said heating element, a pair-of endchambers communicating with said central chamber, vertical partitions spaced from the top and bottom of "said'ehamber-and dividing each of said end chambers into a plurality of compartments each 'of' which communicates at its top andbottom with said-central-chamber, drawers slidable in and-out of each of=said compartments,-a plurality-of-rotatably mounted horizontally disposed rods carried by each: of said drawers, a plurality of vertically disposed pins carried by each of said RALPH C. PARKES. 

